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The assembler directive used to give name to some value or symbol for 8086 ASM-86 is

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UGC NET 2014 Paper 1 Question Paper (28-Dec-2014)
The correct answer is

EQU

 EQU — short for "equate" — is the directive that binds a name to a value, option 3.

PORT_A  EQU  80H
COUNT   EQU  100

Thereafter the assembler substitutes the value wherever the name appears, so MOV AL, COUNT assembles exactly as MOV AL, 100 would.

DirectivePurpose
DDDefine Doubleword — reserves and initialises 4 bytes of storage
NAMEGives a name to the assembly module, for the linker
EQUEquates a symbol to a value or expression
PROCMarks the start of a procedure, with NEAR or FAR

The distinction that matters — EQU against DD. This is the real point of the question. A data-definition directive such as DB, DW or DD allocates memory: the value is placed in the object file and occupies an address at run time, and it can be read or written. EQU allocates nothing. It is a purely assembly-time substitution, resolved before any code is generated, so the value has no address and cannot be modified. Using EQU for a constant therefore costs no memory and no fetch cycle.

Why option 2 is tempting. "NAME" sounds like exactly what "give name to some value" describes, but NAME names the module, not a value — a piece of bookkeeping for the linker when several object files are combined. There is no value involved at all.

What EQU is used for in practice. Port addresses, buffer sizes, bit masks, delay counts — anything that appears repeatedly and might need changing. Defining MAX_LEN EQU 64 once and referring to the name everywhere means a single edit changes the program consistently; scattering the literal 64 through the source invites the classic bug of changing some occurrences and not others. It is also self-documenting: CMP AL, MAX_LEN says what it means in a way CMP AL, 64 does not.

A related directive is = in MASM, which also equates a symbol to a value but, unlike EQU, permits the symbol to be redefined later in the file.

Hence, the directive is EQU.

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Similar Questions

  1. A microprocessor is a semiconductor chip fabricated with entire central processing unit (CPU) on it. It is a programmable device that accepts binary data from an input device, processes the data according to the instructions stored in the memory and provides results as output. Basically microprocessor performs two functions - (a) Fetches an instruction from the memory and (b) Performs the operation specified by the instruction. There are special inputs to the microprocessor called interrupts. External devices use these interrupts to get the microprocessor attention. A micro computer can be built by using 8085 microprocessor along with many other chips such as 8155, 8255, 8279, 8253, 8257, 8259, 8251 etc. 8085 microprocessor is 8-bit microprocessor which has 8-bit data registers where as 8086 is a 16-bit microprocessor.

  2. The following 8051 assembly program is given. Answer the questions based on it.

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    1MOV SP, #4F H
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     .
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    $D_7$$D_6$$D_5$$D_4$$D_3$$D_2$$D_1$$D_0$

    In 8255 programmable peripheral interface device, if the port A and port B are to be set in a hand shake mode along with port C, what are the bits in the 8 bit control word  to be set as 0 1 0.

  4. The number system for the machine code of the microprocessor 8085 is

  5. Which of the options in a multipurpose instruction used to implement the interrupt of 8085 and serial data input ?

  6. Both 8155 and 8255 programmable peripheral interface ICs have the following common features :

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  7. Each instruction in an assembly program has the following fields :

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  9. Match the following :

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  10. Assertion (A) : In serial communication system, when the transmission of data goes in both ways, it is called full-duplex system. Now if two micro processors are connected in full duplex mode, the amount of data transmitted will be double to the amount of data in half-duplex mode connection.

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Important Questions from Microprocessors

  1. An 8086 address bus is a/an _____ -bit bus

  2. Program counter for any counter:

  3. In the pin out configuration of the 8085 microprocessor, the sequential input data is represented by

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  5. Match the columns.

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    1. Reset Input

    b. RESET

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    c. A 0,A 1

    3. Internal Address

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